MICHAELA MCCOLLUM IS hoping to serve the rest of her sentence in Northern Ireland after the prison service in Belfast agreed to accept her.

The 21-year-old from Dungannon, Tyrone was jailed in Peru for smuggling cocaine worth €1.9 million with Melissa Reid in 2013.

The pair were caught with the drugs at Lima airport on August 6 2013, they were later sentenced to six years and eight months.

Her solicitor has described the conditions of the prison she’s currently in as ‘horrendous’.

The Northern Ireland Justice Minister, David Ford, said: “After consideration of the facts of this case, including the difficulty encountered in maintaining family contact I am content to approve the repatriation to Northern Ireland of Michaela McCollum.”

Officials in Belfast have now completed the paperwork for Michaella McCollum’s transfer.

However, it’s understood that the final decision on the application is a matter for the Peruvian ministry of justice and human rights.

Read: Michaella McCollum Connolly ‘endured a significant amount of stress’>

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